Autumn Blessings

This year has been quite the year. So much crazy. So much uncertainty. So many things cancelled. So many disappointments. Sometimes I feel like it would be so easy to slip into an endless spiral of woe-is-me. 

However.

When I find myself edging toward the slippery slope of self pity, I try to focus on things I am grateful for. 

We are all healthy.

Hubby still has a job. The kids are doing alright.

I'm able to find free time to be creative and explore new things. 

It's October in Chicagoland and I can still ride my bike. (though, each time feels like it will probably be the last one, so it always feels special)

And Chicago's autumn has been so very beautiful this year. 

Typically, we always joke that we get two weeks of autumn squeezed between high summer and full-blown winter. This year, it's been a glorious, gradual transformation. 

And some years, the prettiest leaves have been hiding out in the forest preserves. 

But this year, they are all around town. Every drive, every bike ride, I see some fabulous color that gives me pause and I say a little prayer of thanks. 

Truthfully, it feels like a tender mercy. This year has been such a dumpster fire, and I'm really not looking forward to winter. Being able to go outside has been one of the good points keeping us sane this summer; all that will be more difficult with the onset of winter. 

And though the holidays will undoubtedly look different, and what is "typical" or "normal" will continue to shift and change, we will get through the winter. 

It might be more challenging, but we will figure out ways to make it fun. 

In the meantime, I am going to conscientiously savor this beautiful autumn we're having.. and keep on counting my blessings and practicing gratitude. 

'Cuz we got this. 

Communing with Nature

During the last few months, my church worship has had some pretty dramatic changes; we haven't met as a congregation since March. Some areas are starting to venture back but, as far as I've heard, my area is not making any moves any time soon. So, as a family, we do our lessons, we read our scriptures and pray. Those things are great, but I also find that on Sundays, we tend to try to be outside more.

Nature is God's creation and I find great peace when I go out hiking, or stand near great bodies of water.. I love the fresh air and the time I have to appreciate this beautiful world of ours. Also, standing near big things that make me feel diminutive, often gives me pause and I think about my place in the grand scheme of things. Kind of like in this song.

This week, I had the chance to take the boys and meet up with some friends for a (socially distant) get together. It had been a good while since we'd hung out, so that was an exciting prospect. Plus, they'd been talking to me for a while about the joys of flying kites and I'd recently gotten me one and was eager to try it out! As it happened, the weather was right on Sunday afternoon and we seized the day. 

It was a great day for it. We'd finally gotten a break in our never-ending heatwave; it was still sunny but it was a nice temperature to be outside. The park wasn't very crowded, which was a relief. And, of course, that which brought us out - the lovely breeze. These folks are fond of flying kites and they had several they got going pretty quickly. 

While the kids held fast to their strings, my friends helped me get mine off the ground. I hadn't done much kite flying to this point but, happily, I'd been led right at the store and this kite caught the wind well and was nice and easy to get going. 

Kites are funny things. When you look at them, the colors are often garish and overly bright. However, when you get them up into the sky, and the sun shines through them.. it's a little like stained glass. And finding a good breeze is a little like fishing, not that I'm much of a fisher, but when you find a good current and your kite is sailing smoothly, it's calming and meditative. Standing, holding the string, back on the ground, you can watch the kite bob and soar, and it gives you a moment to appreciate the beauty around you, and take a moment to see the goodness in the now and, really, just contemplate lots of things.

While we were standing around, being contemplative, my friend and I chatted a while about how kites can be like faith or testimony. How you have to really be watching the kite, keeping track of the tension on the string, or else it will fall. Or how to you have to seek to find the good currents that take you up. And sometimes you kite will plop right down, but then you pick it up and go again. 

Anyway, it was a lovely afternoon; good friends, good conversation (even thought provoking), and the kids got to run and play. I came away feeling uplifted and fed.... and like I just might need to get another kite.

To See the Trains

Trains have sort of become The Thing over here, for my kids. Everything is a train. Everything. And the excitement of riding or seeing real ones, at least for now, is unrivaled.

So, the other week, we were enjoying some unseasonably warm temperatures here in the Chicago area, so we decided to take a walk to see some trains. It's about 7 blocks to a walking bridge that goes over the nearby highway. This is an excellent place to watch trains because you can see them coming from either direction AND they can see you and, much of the time, they will beep hello!

However, 7 blocks is a bit of a trek with a 5 year old who enjoys detours, races and rests... So, while it took us a good long while to go there and back again, we made it.

Swings!

This afternoon Hubby and I took Townshend to the park to try out the swings for the first time.

 He wasn't too sure about our putting him into that weird little seat. So, as he swung back a forth, he needed to investigate.

We stayed there for a little while, gently pushing him forward and back (happily, the seat never made it into his mouth)...

And he didn't seem terribly upset by it; there were no tears or even any faces pulled. Really, there was little reaction at all either way...

I think it's safe to say the jury's still out on this one. We'll have to revisit this activity and bring him around :)

Getting Out

Life with a baby is very different than life before. Often, I feel like I am relearning how to accomplish routine things; shopping, running errands, going to church, doctor visits, are all changed experiences. This new level of effort to accomplish simple things sometimes makes me inclined to just stay home, unless the trip is absolutely necessary. This tendency is problematic on several levels, plus I don't need to become more of a homebody than I am already.

So, to balance out this extra level of effort to accomplish things, I decided that I needed an extra level of impetus to get myself to go out and get moving. I've decided to dabble in geocaching.

The first time I ventured out to find some hidden treasure, I tied my baby on with a baby-wrap and headed out to a location within walking distance. Turns out the baby-wrap may not have been the wisest choice... Yes, he slept through the whole adventure and, yes, I could keep a close eye on him to make sure he was warm enough, but the baby-wrap doesn't really lend itself well to bending forward or crouching down to search through underbrush. So, at our first location - while I'm sure we were in the right spot, my ability to do a thorough search was severely hindered and we were not successful. However, we had better luck at our second location:

urban geocaching - we found it!

The next time I went out, I brought along some help and we found two caches (then, baby Townshend said he'd had enough). But we had a blast!

I'll definitely be doing this again.. though, next time I'll be bringing the stroller.

Explorations...

Funny what you find when you go out walking.
While out for an evening stroll to a recently discovered neighborhood park, my hubby and I passed a couple things that needed to be recorded:

bike knot

and a broken Neil Diamond record.. with pieces scattered all along the sidewalk..

maybe someone didn't bring flowers...

At the park there was some strange modern equipment.. I think I'm officially old when I see all that newfangled equipment and don't quite know what to do with it... 

But we tried it all out anyway: 

cellphone pic of the inverted plunger twirly thingy... 

Outings and Baseball

Since graduating from college I have keenly missed my built-in summer vacations; three full months where the academic world stops and in the Fall, you start fresh once again. Working full-time doesn't really offer perks like that (unless you're a teacher I suppose, but even then there's PLENTY to be done during those summer months) Nope, generally once you get a real-live grown-up job, when you return from a wonderful and relaxing bit of time off (even though often you are paid for that time off) upon your return you are greeted by a pile of stuff that's just waiting for you to get back into it.

Not to say that working doesn't have its perks; there's that whole paycheck.. and financial stability that generally comes along with the hours spent doing whatever. And there's no homework. Plus, if you're really lucky, you might get to enjoy company outings from time to time. Happily, my place of work does not in anyway resemble that of the wonderful place known as Dunder Mifflin (yay for good work environments) and my company outings are actually pretty fun.

This year, they sent us to a Cub's game! Good times good times.

They sent us to game in style (well, at least it's not the El):
Hehe.. did you know that school buses have seat belts these days??
One of the ladies I work with is from Ireland and this was her very first time on a school bus. She seemed to find the whole thing very amusing.

Sadly, I look half asleep.. but it really was a pretty entertaining game (for a Cub's game)

In the 3rd inning, the Cub's scored 8 runs, including a Grand Slam. It was pretty impressive.
Here's a shot of the pitch that lead to the Grand Slam.
And in the end, that Cub's actually won! 11-4.. Naaaaaiiiiiiice.